Youth TED Conferences

Youth of New Orleans: TED wants you!

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Fun times at TEDYouth 2012, photographed by Ryan Lash.

This year’s annual TEDYouth event, themed “The Spark,” is moving south. On Saturday, November 16, we’ll bring together 400 middle and high school students at the Civic Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana. Attendance is free, so if this sounds like something you’d be up for, you should apply to come join us »

At the conference, more than 20 scientists, designers, technologists, explorers, artists, performers (and more) will share short lessons on what they do best. We’ve curated a bunch of speakers who will dazzle with mind-shifting stories, inspire with creativity and lead students to dive even deeper into a broad array of topics.

This year’s program will comprise three sessions, plus engaging activities, demos and a chance to meet the speakers. Last year, attendees overseen by William Gurstelle built a miniature speaker using a tortilla chip. You know, as you do. Others worked with SparkTruck to design concepts for future trucks — and then built them out of laser cut cardboard. Speakers included Google’s Tom Chi, who demonstrated how rapid prototyping with simple materials such as paper clips and pipe-cleaners led to the development of Google Glass, and marine biologist Kelly Benoit-Bird, who shared sophisticated sound technology used to explore how animals in the ocean find their food while trying to avoid being someone else’s dinner.

Google's Tom Chi speaking at TEDYouth 2012. Photo: Ryan Lash.

Google’s Tom Chi speaking at TEDYouth 2012. Photo: Ryan Lash.

Here are just some of the TEDYouth 2013 speakers! See the full list here »

Science author Annie Murphy Paul investigates how memory works.

Ron Finley grows a nourishing food culture in South Central L.A.’s food desert by planting the seeds and tools for healthy eating. [Watch his hit 2013 TED Talk, A guerrilla gardener in south central LA.]

Suzanne Simard studies “mother trees” — the large, central trees in a forest that support young seedlings and the massive network of interconnected fungi that link forests underground. She’s a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Erika De Benedictis won the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search with her invention: software that makes spaceflight more fuel efficient. From Albuquerque, NM, she’s now a student at CalTech.

Science blogger Rhett Allain writes about popular physics for Wired magazine. In the daytime he’s an associate professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Tissue engineer Nina Tandon charmed at TEDYouth 2012.

Tissue engineer Nina Tandon charmed at TEDYouth 2012.

Clayton Cameron is a legend on the drums, known for pushing the classic wire-brush technique to new heights of expression and swing. An inventor and writer, he plays in bands that tour the world.

Before Jackie Robinson integrated baseball, the legendary Negro League played world-class ball across America. Now, Tulane student Cam Perron helps tell the stories of these long-ago pioneering players — and even helps them collect their pensions.

Tony DeRose heads up the Research Group at Pixar — which means he thinks all day long about how to use math and technology to make animation ever more amazing.

At this year’s Intel Science Fair, Henry Wanjune Lin of Shreveport took home a $50,000 award for his work on modeling the behavior of distant clustered galaxies.

Anne Kelly Knowles maps history onto geographical data — uncovering new insights by looking at the geography where history took place. She’s a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Diego Stocco is a music sound designer; you’ve heard his work in movies like Chernobyl Diaries, Sherlock Holmes and Crank, and in video games like Assassin’s Creed. But lately, he’s been playing a tree.

In a work that’s being called a “graffiti masterpiece,” artist Brandan Bmike Odums painted portraits of civil rights heroes on the walls of the wrecked Florida housing complex, in the 9th Ward. He is the founder of 2-Cent Entertainment.

Sonny Lee grew up without a father — his dad, Bivian Lee, a cornerback for the Saints, died when he was 3. Now, his Son of a Saint Foundation supports fatherless young men through sports and mentorship.

13-year-old entrepreneur Maya Penn makes eco-friendly clothes and accessories — and gives away 10-20% of the profits.

As a little kid, Cole Plante loved to play with his parents’ music equipment. Now, at 16, he’s a star DJ playing clubs around the world in front of thousands of people and just about to release his first EP, Colektiv.

Want to attend this year’s TEDYouth extravaganza? Sign up and come join us »